Hi Peter,

In 1994 Mark, Frank Jeckell and I performed on the Rick Turner show on a local NJ cable station. At that time Frank and I asked Mark if he was interested in reforming the FGC. Mark said he would consider it, but never got back to us.

Although we may have enjoyed having him perform with us, he hasn't contacted us since 1994. We called him a few years ago to let him know that Steve Mortkowitz, our original bass player, passed away. Pat Karwan, our original lead guitar player, Frank and I attended Steve's memorial service, but Mark did not. For whatever reason, Mark has decided not to be involved with the reformed FGC. We respect his decision, although it would have been nice to have him aboard. As far as I know, he still resides in north Jersey.

Besides releasing some of the old audio tapes, I hope to put a clip of us performing on the Rick Turner show someplace on the web. I'll let everyone know when that happens.

Thanks for your interest,
Floyd Marcus and The 1910 FGC

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your inquiry.  I believe you're referring to the recordings of what The Fruitgum Company did during our transition from Jeckell and the Hydes and The Odyssey to The 1910 FGC.  We loved to record and we had the time, so we logged a lot of hours. 

I've been thinking about releasing those songs for quite a few years now.  I waited and can now use technology to "clean" the tapes up.  I can't give a definative answer on their release date, but I hope to have them ready within a year.

I have cover songs and originals that we rehearsed before we went to the Dick Charles studio in NYC (which led to our getting signed).  I also have original songs that wound up on our albums and some that were never recorded in the big NYC studios, that reflect different styles, writers, singers and "takes" all from the original guys.

I think there is a label or two (but won't stick my neck out yet) that will be interested in releasing a CD of this material.  If not, the Fruitgum Company already has a publishing company, so why not put it out via cyberspace, independant radio, and  CD Baby, etc.  I think there will be plenty of interest from the fans, the curious, the brave, and those on the edge.  For me it will be a fun and very satisfying project.
 
Thanks again, Mike.

Floyd Marcus and The 1910 FGC

You are awesome man. I have loved your records since I was a kid. Sticky Sticky, 123 Red Light, Simple Simon. I have found it hard to discover the truth about your band.
I have a few questions:

Who sang lead on Simon and Red Light?
Who Played keys?
Who wrote the lyrics?

Bless you Floyd for the fine music.

Frank O' The Mountain

Hi Frank,

  Thanks for your questions and interest.

First, to directly answer your questions: "Simon Says" and "123 Red Light" were originally both sung by Mark. He was also our keyboardist.

  In interviews I've spoken about "123". Here it is. The band was at a radio station in the  midwest doing promo. The jock asked us about our new 45. We (except Mark) were surprised. It was "123 Red Light". We did recover quickly and somehow pulled out the interview.

 What had happened was that our Mgt/producers had assembled a group of guys to get song tracks done with vocals to be done later (hence the myth that all the Bubblegum was performed by studio musicians) . Some of the members of that band were original members of the Trade Winds.

 In retrospect Super K had some reasons (they felt were valid) for doing that. One, is back then, management received a percentage of what the band earned on the road. It made reasonable business sense to keep us on the road.

 That wasn't the only reason. We had a very verbal agreement that we got to choose and record all singles and album B sides (remember B sides?). When "Simon Says" was released, some jocks (and they had the freedom back then) played the B side "Reflections from the Looking Glass". The song had a deeper message and a psychedelic sound which was more what we were trying for and appealed to many. When the record company found out they panicked. They had a "game" plan. "Reflections" didn't fit into it. They began damage control. They felt that playing the B side could dilute the "figures" and could drag down "Simon Says" on the charts. Back then, there were 2 sided successful singles but they weren't willing to risk that.  Just as an aside, after that occurred many B sides became "nonsense or garbage" in order to discourage Jocks from playing them. In short we had a verbal agreement to record our material. That made them uncomfortable.

 Jeff Katz really did love a lot of our original songs. He had proposed to our record company that our second release be "Keep Your Thoughts on the Bright Side" from our first album (a song I wrote). Buddha decided to stay with their "game" (a pun) plan and release "May I Take a Giant Step". It made top 40. Number 39 on  the Billboard charts.

 We are releasing re-recorded versions of all our hits as well as some original pop tunes and some more "mature" original songs on a new studio CD and releasing a new Christmas CD with two new original Christmas songs. They will be released on Collectables a division of Gotham Distribution Company, this year.

 I'm working on the tapes we did leading up to our FGC deal.

 Check out our Youtube video if you haven't already. It was done by a crew from the Netherlands for a Public TV show there.

Thanks,

 Floyd 1910